Carlisle

Mike Officer’s first five-gallon batch of kitchen-made Zinfandel grew into a garage winery with his wife, Kendall. They launched Carlisle Winery & Vineyards in Sonoma County in 1998, focusing on old-vine Zinfandel and red Rhône varieties. Their Carlisle Vineyard, planted in 1927 with several varieties growing together, became a cornerstone of that work.

Mike favoured fermentation without added yeast, little new oak and minimal fining or filtration, while making adjustments when a wine needed them. He also helped found the Historic Vineyard Society, which documents and works to preserve California’s old vineyards.